Susan de Ghizé currently serves as Professor of Music, Program Coordinator, and Music Theory Coordinator at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. Her teaching contributions to student success have earned numerous prestigious awards, most notably the statewide 2025 Piper Professor Award. She was the first TAMU-CC professor to receive the award since 2010 and the first music theorist to win it since its inception in 1958. Her institutional honors include the TAMU-CC University Excellence Award in Teaching (2023), the Digital Innovator of the Year Faculty Choice Award (2023), the Excellence in Disability Access and Inclusion Award (2021), and Excellence in Teaching Awards from the School of Arts, Media, & Communication (2024) and the College of Liberal Arts (2022).
Her research has focused on music theory, analysis, and pedagogy, with publications on the music of Mozart and Brahms and on the theories of Hauptmann and Schoenberg. These include “Mozart’s Common (Yet Uncommon) Common-Tone Modulations,” “The Positives and Negatives of Hauptmann’s Theory of Meter: A Look at Mozart’s Piano Sonata K. 332,” and “Revolving Variations via Rhythm,” which reconsiders Schoenberg’s concept of developing variations in Brahms’s chamber works. In recent years, her work has increasingly centered on music theory pedagogy and the development of open educational resources (OER). She is the author of Steps to Music Theory, an OER that provides accessible, affordable resources for music theory students. She has also developed Steps to Harmonic Dictation, along with sample assignments and other online resources. Her work in OER and innovative teaching has been supported by university and Bell Library grants and stipends. She frequently presents at regional, national, and international conferences on innovative pedagogical strategies, accessible course design, and classroom inclusivity.
Dr. de Ghizé earned a Ph.D. in Music Theory from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and a B.A. in Music from the University of California, Berkeley, where she received the Eisner Prize in Music Performance. Before joining TAMU-CC in 2016, she taught music theory and aural skills at the University of Texas at Rio Grande Valley (formerly the University of Texas at Brownsville), the University of Denver, Northeastern University, and the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music at the National University of Singapore. She has also served as a faculty reader for the AP Music Theory examination and has been active in professional organizations, including the College Music Society, where she currently serves as a Music Theory Board Member.
Outside of work, Dr. de Ghizé enjoys running, consuming caffeine in all forms, and visiting California. As an advocate for animals, she is always happy to connect with others about plant-based living.
